jar05g

Hello all. I have a 29 gallon fresh tank that I just set up about 4 days ago. It probably is just starting its cycle because I just added two danios about 2 days ago. Anyway, my pH is high. I have the API pH test and it's dark blue, so it could be higher than 7.6. My water is also tap water from my dorm room and it's really hard. I read that hard water can make for almost impossible pH changes. I added a pH 6.5 buffer to get it down, but it hasn't seemed to work. LFS told me I could add Epson salt to soften the water and then add the buffer. Any suggestions?

jsalemi

No, no, a thousand times no! You got bad advice from the LFS. Epson salts at best a treatment for a very small range of diseases -- they should not be put in a regular tank. As for the pH being high, have you tested the tap water? If the tap water is also high, the odds are that the water at the LFS is high as well, so the fish are adapted to it.

Fish are more stressed by fluctuating pH than by a high pH if they're adapted to it. And since you're cycling with the fish, no need to put any more stress on them as is. Just do regular water changes every other day at least, and keep an eye on the rest of the water chemistry.

jar05g

Ok....I'll do that. I have a 10 gallon fresh tank as well with tap water that I've had up for a few months now and the pH has never been below 7.6 and all the fish are doing fine. I guess I'll just go with it.

rainman

I thought since this is a thread about high ph i would talk about mine:

I have a paired blue, opaline ,and rearl gouramis. My ph is 8.3 iand the water is vary hard. I have done many things to fix this like water conditioner and the bowl buddies for ph and heavy metals. But no dice. What can i do?

capekate

Hi rainman
water chemistry ( such as your PH) is not as critical for Gourami's as it is for some tropicals. I am sure that your Gourami's will adjust just fine to your PH level. The problem with using any of the buffers and Ph down.. is that with every water change the PH will fluctuate and that will cause more harm than good. Then you would test.. add some more chemicals etc etc etc. A real roller coaster that will in the end affect the health of your fish.
Better to just let them adjust to the Ph you have consistently.

~ kate

voiceless_kat

My home water is liquid rock, when tested, the results were off the scale. (KH&GH - I finally got tired of adding more drops and counting, and quit I was so high.) Wise people told me most often fish are able to adapt to PH - and to try to stay away from all the chemicals that adjust PH.

IMO...(and please know I am not advising anyone else do/do not do this) I don't even bother testing for PH unless there is something out of whack in the tank. I know it is at least 7.6 and alkaline.

Whenever I buy fish that are going into my hard water ( my bettas are in soft water - med. PH -hauled from town - everyone else gets well water), I acclimate them slowly, removing some of their bag water and replacing it with water from the tank. I have had great success. However, to be honest - and maybe it is because I try to keep it simple......I always try to buy the fish that will thrive in the water I have available.

Again, IMO, & following the advice of wise people..the less chemicals in the water, the healthier the fish. I add nothing but VitaChem once a week to my 55 and the fish I have in there are healthy, active and thriving.

Good Luck with your fish, keep us posted!
Val

rainman

exactly what i was thinking (about the buffers) just wanted to make sure because 8.3 is a REALY high Ph. Thanks